Fire at Bozeman Airport Causes Evacuation

Select areas of the Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport were evacuated due to a fire on Thursday.

According to Fire Marshal Bruce Hennequin of the Central Valley Fire District, the fire was reported in the kitchen of Taco Jet, a restaurant located in the terminal. The automatic fire suppression system activated and the fire was quickly extinguished with minimal damage.

After the restaurant was assessed for potential hazards and was determined safe the airport was re-opened. According to Hennequin the airport was evacuated for approximately 30 minutes and travel was delayed slightly.

Airport Director Brian Sprenger tells us that the longest flight delay was 31 minutes, affecting an outbound flight to Long Beach, Calif. In addition to flight delays, passenger screening at the security checkpoint was also shutdown for a short time while fire crews responded to the scene.